Grading the nation's governors on fiscal responsibility

11 October 2018

NormanL

The Cato Institute has released its "Fiscal Policy Report Card on America's Governors" for 2018, and the results are rather interesting. As the Institute's Chris Edwards notes, a growing economy has replenished many state coffers. What have governors done with the money? Some have spent it, while others have reduced taxes. The top performers (who are also some of the most aggressive tax cutters) are Republicans. The ones with failing grades? It's a bipartisan mix:

Five governors were awarded an A on this report: Susana Martinez of New Mexico, Henry McMaster of South Carolina, Doug Burgum of North Dakota, Paul LePage of Maine, and Greg Abbott of Texas. Eight governors were awarded an F: Roy Cooper of North Carolina, John Bel Edwards of Louisiana, Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania, Jim Justice of West Virginia, Dennis Daugaard of South Dakota, David Ige of Hawaii, Kate Brown of Oregon, and Jay Inslee of Washington.

All of the governor's ranked with a grade of "B" or higher are in the GOP though to be fair, there are a few Republicans who scored far lower than their rhetoric would otherwise indicate. You can read the complete report, including how your state's governor ranked, here.